AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ijb.7788
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Laser-induced forward transfer in picosecond regime for cell bioprinting

Lucas Duvert1,2 ,  Clarissa Murru1 ,  Ahmed Al-Kattana1 ,  Anne-Patricia Alloncle1 ,  Frederique Magdinier2 ,  Stefano Testa2* ,  Adrien Casanova1*
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1 Laser, Plasmas et Procédés Photoniques (LP3), Aix-Marseille University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Campus de Luminy, Marseille, France
2 Marseille Medical genetics (MMG), Aix-Marseille University, Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM), Marseille, France
IJB 2025, 11(2), 290–301; https://doi.org/10.36922/ijb.7788
Submitted: 17 December 2024 | Accepted: 24 January 2025 | Published: 24 January 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Based on interdisciplinary approaches, bioprinting methods aim to create and design highly organized 2D and 3D cultures. In this context, it has been more than a decade since laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) was studied on a lab scale for its ability to transfer biomaterials, specifically bioink loaded with living cells, onto a substrate. Extreme physical and mechanical phenomena contribute to the jetting dynamic of the targeted bioink, raising a spontaneous biological question: does this process negatively affect the survival rate of transferred cells? This study demonstrates that laser pulse durations in the range of picoseconds to nanoseconds do not directly affect cell viability, indicating that LIFT is a valuable bioprinting method for transferring living cells. Moreover, we highlight the necessity of using hydrogel coatings on the surface of the receiver substrate to guarantee optimal post-printing viability of the cells. We demonstrate that the nature of the hydrogel also contributes to the resolution of the printed pattern. Among the tested materials, Matrigel demonstrated all the qualities required to ensure successful printing and should therefore be considered for future work. Overall, the results show the suitability of our LIFT setup for printing living cells in the picosecond regime with a high survival rate, paving the way for a wide range of biological applications.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Cell viability
Laser-assisted bioprinting
LIFT bioprinting
Living cells printing
Regenerative medicine
Skeletal muscle
Tissue engineering
Funding
The work was funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR Medilibs and Diagem projects) together with the French Defense Innovation Agency (ANR— DGA/AID—ICELARE Project ID: ANR—20—ASTR— 0004). The PhD thesis of Lucas Duvert was co-funded by Aix-Marseille University, the French Defense Innovation Agency and the MarMaRa funding scheme. This work received support from the French government under the France 2030 investment plan, as part of the Initiative d’Excellence d’Aix-Marseille Université – A*MIDEX “AMX-23-CPJ-05”. The project leading to this publication has received funding from the Excellence Initiative of Aix- Marseille University-A*Midex, a French “investissement d’avenir programme” AMX-19-IET-007, through the MarMaRa funding scheme. This work was conducted using LaMP facilities at LP3. The authors also acknowledge the “Region SUD” for their financial support.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing
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